Gabriella's 1st and Ty's 5th Birthday Party

I still remember the night I started feeling contractions, April 24th at 11:00 PM. The only thing I was thinking is how to get this baby out before the clock hit 12am on April 26th, Ty's Birthday. Luckily, she was born at 7:54PM on the 25th. 

Having their birthday 1 day apart has been something I dreaded. I knew I wanted to go all out for her 1st birthday and his 5th birthday. The thought of both of them sharing their special day stressed me out. However, as I started to plan I realized how much better this was. We now live 2 hours away from the majority of our families, so they only needed to come out once for both kids. SCORE! Also, it is definitely more cost effective (major plus for me) to have one party as opposed to two separate ones. 

I made sure that each child had their own theme, food and attention. It was very important for me to make sure Ty knew how special he was and he would enjoy it just as much! 

Ty was easy. He is a complete Star Wars nut, particularly Darth Vader. Gabriella's theme was a little bit more difficult. I originally wanted to do a pink, aqua and white theme for her. No special fluff just the colors of her room. Then, I went to Party City with my husband and he went crazy for Minnie. The big eyes, bows and dark complexion just drew him in. So it was then decided, about a few weeks before her party to change the theme. 

Their party was so much fun! Food was fantastic and everyone had a lot of fun! Plus, having the pool was amazing! We love our new house and we were so excited to share it with all of our family and friends! :) Thank you to everyone who made the trip to celebrate our kids! 

Invitations
 On one side was Ty and the other side was Gabriella!

Banner on our mantel

Ty's Table

 Light Sabers

White and milk chocolate dipped pretzel rods with blue and red sprinkles

 Storm Trooper Pops

Marshmallows dipped in white chocolate and covered with crushed oreos

 Death Star Donuts

Chocolate Donuts

 Jabbapeno Dip

My famous Jalapeno Popper dip

 Vader Veggies

 Darth Sidious Smokies

Bacon wrapped smokies

Vaderade

Fruit Punch Gaterade

 C-H20

 Ty's personal water labels!

Gabriella's Table

 Sweet Pink Popcorn

Popcorn with a pink sugary topping!

 Bowtique Pasta Salad

 Mickeys McNuggets

 Hot Diggity Dogs

Mini corn dogs

 Minnie's Marshmallows

Daisy's Deviled Eggs

Backyard fun! I just LOVE our backyard!

 Time for cake!

 Gabriella with her Great Aunt Milly, Grandma Sylvia and Great Aunt Ingrid! Seriously, how gorgeous are these ladies!

 Dinner

 Pulled Pork sandwiches

 Caesar Salad, Potato Salad and Baked beans

 Light Saber and Minnie utensils

Happy Birthday Kiddos!

Picture Collage

I wanted  to show off some pictures of each child but I'm not a fan of putting them into a number since I scrapbook so I didn't want them to be too manipulated. This worked out perfectly! As soon as each guest arrived they were able to see pictures of our cute little kids!

23rd Birthday :)

Sorry, I haven't been blogging a lot! Things have been crazy around here and I needed to prioritize my time. Whoops :) Anyways, I had a great birthday. I received some stainless steel measuring cups which are my absolute favorite! We bought some cheap plastic ones and they always break or the measurement comes off. I am in love with my new ones! I also got a new can opener... huge difference :), cutting board, citrus juicer. Cooking yummy and healthy meals is my job so it was great to get things I desperately need!

I also appreciate all the facebook posts, text messages, cards, and calls I received. I am so thankful to have such amazing friends, family which includes my husband's family! I am one very lucky lady :)

New happenings with our house

My in-laws have an amazing garden. Their passion for their garden is so amazing and definitely contagious! We decided we wanted to emulate them and start our own garden, which I have previously blogged about. We decided we wanted to put our garden on the side yard because it gets the best sun and probably the in need of the most attention. The side consists of dead grass, ugly trees, and basically a bunch of junk. So, we decided to clear that out and (eventually) put 3 raised garden beds. I have been looking through craiglist for wine barrels that we could buy and put our fruits,vegetables, and herbs in them. My in-laws have wine barrels and they hold a large amount and look VERY nice. However, when price checking them they would cost a lot more than we could afford.

So we decided to check out Lowe's for ideas on different ways we could make affordable raised beds. We found all the materials we needed and everything was less than $15 dollars! I think it turned out really cute and we want to eventually make 2 more!

I have also been looking for a new desk. Craigslist once again hooked me up. I guess, it's not really craigslist I should thank but all of the wonderful people who donate things to young families like us :) We were able to score this wonderful desk which is exactly what I have been looking for. As a look around at our furniture I swear everything we have is second half. Our couch, dining table, patio swing, patio chairs and table,desk(now),our old desk, guest bed (my old bed), Ty's bed, dressers, lamps. I love it. :) One day, we will be able to buy our stuff brand new, but for now, owning our own house and being able to live off one income is worth getting second hand stuff :)

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And our family wanted to wish our Scot a very Happy Birthday :) Scot, you are the very best father in law, step father, and gampa we could ask for. We love you and appreciate all you do for our family. You always have a smile on your face and your happiness is infectious! Thanks for being an amazing guy and we hope you had an amazing day!! Love you so much!!!

Ty's 3rd Birthday Party!!!

All of the planning, crafting, and preparing was totally 100% worth it. I am so pleased with how everything turned out and I am so grateful for all of the help I received. We were a little hesitant about who would actually show considering we moved half an hour away from our family and friends. But everyone who loves us came to support our family and see our home!

THE FAVORS

I was thinking of a fun favor, something yummy and that people loved. I did banana split bags last year and I am not a fan of toys because I feel it's just extra stuff that gets lost. And we had a bunch of kids which would cost tons of money! SO, I thought... heck who doesn't like sugar cookies! I tried three different recipes and I fell in love with this one. This will definitely be my go-to cookie recipe!

FOOD

We had the most amazing food! Spinach dip, 7 layer bean dip, salsa, cheese ball, jalapeno popper dip, my mother in law's AMAZING guac dip, veggie tray, fruit skewers and that's just for appetizers.


Lunch was sandwiches, BLUE jello, caesar salad, blue cheese salad, fruit salad. I was so fortunate to delegate the food assignments to my family members who offered which lowered the cost of food. Which was a HUGE savings to us!

FUN

Tyler REALLY wanted a pinata for the older crowd... this part was hilarious!

And of course, we had one for the little guys

And we rented a bounce house. It was totally fun. I am so glad we have a backyard because we were able to hold so many different activities. We had a soccer net, baseball tee, bean bag toss, and other activities so the kids could have fun.




We also had my cousin do face painting which was another huge hit with all of the kids. I will definitely have this again because everyone loved it. I am so glad she agreed to do it!

DESSERT TABLE

I made chocolate covered marshmallows and pretzel rods (white and milk chocolate). We also had a bunch of different blue candies at the table.

TABLES

For many of our family and friends they only see Ty maybe once or twice a year. So I wanted to make a portrait centerpiece so people could see what Ty was up to in that year. They turned out sooo cute and everyone loved seeing Ty's goofy pictures!

I loved planning his party. It was so fun to create all of his decorations, food and favors. I look forward to next year :) Thank you to everyone who attended. We hope you had as much fun as we did!!